Dangerously “Gun Free” on the high seas

Tom Hanks, Hollywood’s most admired and reliable actor, has done it again with his latest film, CAPTAIN PHILLIPS. The riveting movie tells the true story of a huge U.S. tanker captured by Somali pirates in 2009.

The most amazing aspect of the tale as it unfolds on screen involves the take-over of a massive, high tech ship with a crew of more than twenty professional sailors by four barefoot desperadoes in a rickety motorboat. The pirates, however, carried semi-automatic weapons while international rules prevented the American crew from carrying any guns at all.

As Tom Hanks ruefully acknowledges, this harrowing episode carries a politically incorrect, pro-gun message. When you establish a gun-free zone, even on a formidable super-tanker, you set up an inviting and vulnerable target for ruthless bad guys who have no intention of obeying the rules.